Encyclopedia of Investment Terminology

Ex-dividend Date

The ex-dividend date is a date where when a stock is bought the person buying it is not going to be entitled to the declared dividend for the stock. When a person buys stock on an ex-dividend date that person will not be able to collect a dividend until the next available dividend payment comes around. A seller will get this dividend in this case. A typical ex-dividend date will be two business days prior to when the record date for a stock is set.